1.
Slingshot
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A slingshot or catapult, ging, shanghai, kattie, bean shooter, or flip or tirador, is normally a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand, the other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the projectile. The dominant hand grasps the pocket and draws it back to the extent to provide power for the projectile - up to a full span of the arm with sufficiently long bands. Slingshots depend on strong elastic materials, typically vulcanized natural rubber or the equivalent, by 1860, this new engine had already established a reputation for juvenile use in vandalism. While early slingshots were most associated with young vandals, they were also capable hunting arms in the hands of a skilled user, placing multiple balls in the pouch produces a shotgun effect, such as firing a dozen BBs at a time for hunting small birds. With the addition of a suitable rest, the slingshot can also be used to fire arrows, the Wham-O company, founded in 1948, was named after their first product, the Wham-O slingshot. It was made of ash wood and used flat rubber bands, the Wham-O was suitable for hunting with a draw weight of up to 200 newtons, and was available with an arrow rest. The 1940s also saw the creation of the National Slingshot Association, headquartered in San Marino, California, despite the slingshots reputation as a tool of juvenile delinquents, the NSA reported that 80% of slingshot sales were to men over 30 years old, many of them professionals. John Milligan, a manufacturer of the aluminium-framed John Milligan Special. The middle 1950s saw two major innovations in slingshot manufacture, typified by the Wrist-Rocket Company of Columbus, Nebraska, slingshots are also occasionally used in angling to disperse bait into the water over a wide area, so that multiple fish are attracted near the anglers fishing rod. A home-made derivative of a slingshot also exists, consisting of a rubber balloon cut in half and tied to an object such as the neck of a plastic bottle. The projectile is inserted through the tube and into the cut balloon, and these so-called balloon guns are sometimes made as a substitute to ordinary slingshot, and is often used to create the shotgun effect with multiple projectiles fired at once. The world record for the most energetic shot with a handheld slingshot was 135 Joules and it was shot with a forward extended slingshot, also known as a starship, which achieves more power by increasing draw length. Slingshots have been used as weapons, but primarily by guerrilla forces due to the primitive resources. Slingshots have also used by the military to launch unmanned aerial vehicles. Two crew members form the fork, with an elastic cord stretched between them to power to launch the small aircraft. One of the dangers inherent in slingshots is the probability that the bands will fail. Most bands are made from latex, which degrades with time and use, failures at the pouch end are safest, as they result in the band rebounding away from the user
2.
Weapon
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A weapon, arm, or armament is any device used with intent to inflict damage or harm to living beings, structures, or systems. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, self-defense. In a broader context, weapons may be construed to include anything used to gain a strategic, something that has been re-purposed, converted, or enhanced to become a weapon of war is termed weaponized, such as a weaponized virus or weaponized lasers. The use of objects as weapons has been observed among chimpanzees, however, this can not be confirmed using physical evidence because wooden clubs, spears, and unshaped stones would not have left an unambiguous record. The earliest unambiguous weapons to be found are the Schöninger Speere, the first defensive structures and fortifications appeared in the Bronze Age, indicating an increased need for security. Weapons designed to breach fortifications followed soon after, for example the battering ram was in use by 2500 BC, although early Iron Age swords were not superior to their bronze predecessors, once iron-working developed, around 1300 BC in Greece Alex Webb, Metalworking in Ancient Greece. Domestication of the horse and widespread use of spoked wheels by ca.2000 BC, led to the light, the mobility provided by chariots were important during this era. Spoke-wheeled chariot usage peaked around 1300 BC and then declined, ceasing to be militarily relevant by the 4th century BC. Cavalry developed once horses were bred to support the weight of a man, the horse extended the range and increased the speed of attacks. Ships built as weapons or warships such as the trireme were in use by the 7th century BC and these ships were eventually replaced by larger ships by the 4th century BC. European warfare during the Post-classical history was dominated by groups of knights supported by massed infantry. They were involved in combat and sieges which involved various siege weapons. Knights on horseback developed tactics for charging with lances providing an impact on the enemy formations, whereas infantry, in the age before structured formations, relied on cheap, sturdy weapons such as spears and billhooks in close combat and bows from a distance. As armies became more professional, their equipment was standardized and infantry transitioned to pikes, pikes are normally seven to eight feet in length, in conjunction with smaller side-arms. In Eastern and Middle Eastern warfare, similar tactics were developed independent of European influences, the introduction of gunpowder from the Far East at the end of this period revolutionized warfare. Formations of musketeers, protected by pikemen came to dominate open battles, the European Renaissance marked the beginning of the implementation of firearms in western warfare. Guns and rockets were introduced to the battlefield, firearms are qualitatively different from earlier weapons because they release energy from combustible propellants such as gunpowder, rather than from a counter-weight or spring. This energy is released very rapidly and can be replicated without much effort by the user, therefore even early firearms such as the arquebus were much more powerful than human-powered weapons. During the U. S. Civil War various technologies including the gun and ironclad warship emerged that would be recognizable and useful military weapons today
3.
Projectile
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A projectile is any object thrown into space by the exertion of a force. Although any object in motion through space may be called a projectile, mathematical equations of motion are used to analyze projectile trajectory. Blowguns and pneumatic rifles use compressed gases, while most other guns and cannons utilize expanding gases liberated by sudden chemical reactions, light-gas guns use a combination of these mechanisms. Railguns utilize electromagnetic fields to provide a constant acceleration along the length of the device. Some projectiles provide propulsion during flight by means of an engine or jet engine. In military terminology, a rocket is unguided, while a missile is guided, note the two meanings of rocket, an ICBM is a guided missile with a rocket engine. An explosion, whether or not by a weapon, causes the debris to act as high velocity projectiles. An explosive weapon, or device may also be designed to produce high velocity projectiles by the break-up of its casing. Many projectiles, e. g. shells, may carry a charge or another chemical or biological substance. Aside from explosive payload, a projectile can be designed to cause damage, e. g. fire. Typical kinetic energy weapons are blunt projectiles such as rocks and round shots, pointed ones such as arrows, among projectiles that do not contain explosives are those launched from railguns, coilguns, and mass drivers, as well as kinetic energy penetrators. Other types of weapons are accelerated over time by a rocket engine. In either case, it is the energy of the projectile that destroys its target. Some kinetic weapons for targeting objects in spaceflight are anti-satellite weapons, since in order to reach an object in orbit it is necessary to attain an extremely high velocity, their released kinetic energy alone is enough to destroy their target, explosives are not necessary. For example, the energy of TNT is 4.6 MJ/kg, and this saves costly weight and there is no detonation to be precisely timed. This method, however, requires direct contact with the target, some hit-to-kill warheads are additionally equipped with an explosive directional warhead to enhance the kill probability. With regard to weapons, the Arrow missile and MIM-104 Patriot PAC-2 have explosives, while the Kinetic Energy Interceptor, Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile. A kinetic projectile can also be dropped from aircraft and this is applied by replacing the explosives of a regular bomb with a non-explosive material, for a precision hit with less collateral damage
4.
Hunting
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Hunting is the practice of killing or trapping animals, or pursuing or tracking them with the intent of doing so. Hunting wildlife or feral animals is most commonly done by humans for food, recreation, to predators that are dangerous to humans or domestic animals. Lawful hunting is distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species. The species that are hunted are referred to as game or prey and are usually mammals, Hunting can also be a means of pest control. However, hunting has also contributed to the endangerment, extirpation and extinction of many animals. The pursuit, capture and release, or capture for food of fish is called fishing, the practice of foraging or gathering materials from plants and mushrooms is also considered separate from hunting. The word hunt serves as both a noun and a verb, the noun has been dated to the early 12th century, act of chasing game, from the verb hunt. The meaning of a body of persons associated for the purpose of hunting with a pack of hounds is first recorded in the 1570s, meaning the act of searching for someone or something is from about 1600. The verb, Old English huntian to chase game, perhaps developed from hunta hunter, is related to hentan to seize, from Proto-Germanic huntojan, the general sense of search diligently is first recorded c. Hunting has a history and may well pre-date the rise of the species Homo sapiens. Evidence from western Kenya suggests that hunting has been occurring for more two million years. Furthermore, evidence exists that hunting may have one of the multiple environmental factors leading to the Holocene extinction of megafauna. North American megafauna extinction was coincidental with the Younger Dryas impact event, however, in other locations such as Australia, humans are thought to have played a very significant role in the extinction of the Australian megafauna that was widespread prior to human occupation. The closest surviving relatives of the species are the two species of Pan, the common chimpanzee and bonobos. Common chimpanzees have a diet that includes troop hunting behaviour based on beta males being led by an alpha male. Bonobos have also observed to occasionally engage in group hunting. With the establishment of language, culture, and religion, hunting became a theme of stories and myths, as well as such as dance. Hunting was a component of hunter-gatherer societies before the domestication of livestock
5.
Game (food)
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Game or quarry is any animal hunted for sport or for food. The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world, in some countries, game is classified, including legal classification with respect to licences required, as either small game or large game. Game or quarry is any animal hunted for sport or for food, the term game arises in medieval hunting terminology by the late 13th century and is particular to English, from the generic meaning of Old English gamen joy, amusement, sport, merriment. Small game includes animals, such as rabbits, pheasants. Large game includes animals like deer and bear, big game is a term sometimes used interchangeably with large game although in other contexts it refers to large, typically African, mammals which are hunted mainly for trophies in safaris. The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world and this is influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted views about what can or cannot be legitimately hunted. Sometimes a distinction is made between varieties and species of a particular animal, such as wild turkey and domestic turkey. Fish caught for sport are referred to as game fish, the flesh of the animal, when butchered for consumption is often described as having a gamey flavour. This difference in taste can be attributed to the diet of the animal. In some countries, game is classified, including legal classification with respect to licences required, a single small game licence may cover all small game species and be subject to yearly bag limits. Large game are often subject to individual licensing where a licence is required for each individual animal taken. In some parts of Africa, wild animals hunted for their meat are called bushmeat, see article for more detailed information on how this operates within the economy. In Africa, animals hunted for their pelts or ivory are sometimes referred to as the big game, also see the legal definition of game in Swaziland. South Africa has 62 species of gamebirds, including guineafowl, francolin, partridge, quail, sandgrouse, duck, geese, snipe, bustard, of the remaining 41 species,24 have shown an increase in numbers and distribution range in the last 25 years or so. The status of 14 species appears unchanged, with insufficient information being available for the three species. S. and Canada, deer are the most commonly hunted big game. Other game species include, In the PRC there is a special category called ye wei. In the UK game is defined in law by the Game Act 1831 and it is illegal to shoot game on Sundays or at night. Other that are hunted for food in the UK are specified under the Wildlife, the ban is generally considered voluntary on private lands, and few birds live away from RSPB or Forestry Commission land allegedly
6.
Spanish Civil War
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Ultimately, the Nationalists won, and Franco then ruled Spain for the next 36 years, from April 1939 until his death in November 1975. Sanjurjo was killed in an accident while attempting to return from exile in Portugal. The coup was supported by units in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, Pamplona, Burgos, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Cádiz, Córdoba. However, rebelling units in some important cities—such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, and Málaga—did not gain control, Spain was thus left militarily and politically divided. The Nationalists and the Republican government fought for control of the country, the Nationalist forces received munitions and soldiers from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while the Republican side received support from the Communist Soviet Union and leftist populist Mexico. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, operated a policy of non-intervention. The Nationalists advanced from their strongholds in the south and west and they also besieged Madrid and the area to its south and west for much of the war. Those associated with the losing Republicans were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists, with the establishment of a dictatorship led by General Franco in the aftermath of the war, all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Franco regime. The war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired, organized purges occurred in territory captured by Francos forces to consolidate the future regime. A significant number of killings took place in areas controlled by the Republicans, the extent to which Republican authorities took part in killings in Republican territory varied. The 19th century was a turbulent time for Spain and those in favour of reforming Spains government vied for political power with conservatives, who tried to prevent reforms from taking place. Some liberals, in a tradition that had started with the Spanish Constitution of 1812, sought to limit the power of the monarchy of Spain, the reforms of 1812 did not last after King Ferdinand VII dissolved the Constitution and ended the Trienio Liberal government. Twelve successful coups were carried out between 1814 and 1874, until the 1850s, the economy of Spain was primarily based on agriculture. There was little development of an industrial or commercial class. The land-based oligarchy remained powerful, a number of people held large estates called latifundia as well as all the important government positions. In 1868 popular uprisings led to the overthrow of Queen Isabella II of the House of Bourbon, two distinct factors led to the uprisings, a series of urban riots and a liberal movement within the middle classes and the military concerned with the ultra-conservatism of the monarchy. In 1873 Isabellas replacement, King Amadeo I of the House of Savoy, abdicated owing to increasing pressure. After the restoration of the Bourbons in December 1874, Carlists and Anarchists emerged in opposition to the monarchy, alejandro Lerroux, Spanish politician and leader of the Radical Republican Party, helped bring republicanism to the fore in Catalonia, where poverty was particularly acute
7.
Wilderness survival
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Survival skills are techniques that a person may use in order to sustain life in any type of natural environment. These techniques are meant to provide necessities for human life which include water, food. The skills also support proper knowledge and interactions with animals and plants to promote the sustaining of life over a period of time, Survival skills are often basic ideas and abilities that ancients invented and used themselves for thousands of years. Outdoor activities such as hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, fishing, bushcraft and primitive living are most often self-implemented, but require many of the same skills. First aid can help a person survive and function with injuries and illnesses that would kill or incapacitate him/her. Making fire is recognized in the sources as significantly increasing the ability to physically and mentally. Lighting a fire without a lighter or matches, e. g. by using natural flint, there is an emphasis placed on practicing fire-making skills before venturing into the wilderness. Producing fire under adverse conditions has made much easier by the introduction of tools such as the solar spark lighter. One fire starting technique involves using a black powder firearm if one is available, proper gun safety should be used with this technique to avoid harmful injury or death. The technique includes ramming tinder, like charred cloth or fine wood strands, next, fire the gun up in the air in a safe direction, run and pick up the cloth that is projected out of the barrel with the shot, and then blow it into flame. It works better if you have a supply of tinder at hand so that the cloth can be placed against it to start the fire, fire is presented as a tool meeting many survival needs. The heat provided by a fire warms the body, dries wet clothes, disinfects water, not to be overlooked is the psychological boost and the sense of safety and protection it gives. In the wild, fire can provide a sensation of home, fire may deter wild animals from interfering with a survivor, however wild animals may be attracted to the light and heat of a fire. A human being can survive an average of three to five days without the intake of water, the issues presented by the need for water dictate that unnecessary water loss by perspiration be avoided in survival situations. The need for water increases with exercise, a typical person will lose minimally two to maximally four liters of water per day under ordinary conditions, and more in hot, dry, or cold weather. Four to six liters of water or other liquids are generally required each day in the wilderness to avoid dehydration, the U. S. Army survival manual does not recommend drinking water only when thirsty, as this leads to underhydrating. Instead, water should be drunk at regular intervals, other groups recommend rationing water through water discipline. A lack of water causes dehydration, which may result in lethargy, headaches, dizziness, confusion, even mild dehydration reduces endurance and impairs concentration, which is dangerous in a survival situation where clear thinking is essential
8.
Improvised weapon
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An improvised weapon is an object that was not designed to be used as a weapon but can be put to that use. They are generally used for self-defence or where the person is otherwise unarmed, Improvised weapons are common everyday objects that can be used in a variety of defensive applications. These objects are not physically altered in any way, in an effort to make them more functional as weapons and they are generally utilized in their normal state. Other than items designed as weapons, any object that can be used to bodily harm can be considered an improvised weapon. There are even some western martial arts that are based on improvised weapons such as British quarterstaff fighting, after the German Peasants Wars during 1524-1525, a fencing book edited by Paulus Hector Mair described in 1542 techniques how to fence using a scythe. Because of the use of objects as weapons in violent crimes, many countries have laws that prevent the use of some tools. There are places that people from entering with objects that may be used as weapons. Most public schools in North America do not allow their students to bring pocket knives, butter knives or chain-wallets, airports typically prohibit objects that could be used as weapons from being carried onto aircraft. It can also be used to refer to common classes of such as guns, knives. TM 31-210 Improvised Munition Handbook Suicide attack Suicide weapon Improvised Self Defence Weapons
9.
Neolithic
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It ended when metal tools became widespread. The Neolithic is a progression of behavioral and cultural characteristics and changes, including the use of wild and domestic crops, the beginning of the Neolithic culture is considered to be in the Levant about 10, 200–8800 BC. It developed directly from the Epipaleolithic Natufian culture in the region, whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which then evolved into true farming. The Natufian period was between 12,000 and 10,200 BC, and the so-called proto-Neolithic is now included in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic between 10,200 and 8800 BC. By 10, 200–8800 BC, farming communities arose in the Levant and spread to Asia Minor, North Africa, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. Early Neolithic farming was limited to a range of plants, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat, millet and spelt, and the keeping of dogs, sheep. By about 6900–6400 BC, it included domesticated cattle and pigs, the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements, not all of these cultural elements characteristic of the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order, the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery. Early Japanese societies and other East Asian cultures used pottery before developing agriculture, unlike the Paleolithic, when more than one human species existed, only one human species reached the Neolithic. The term Neolithic derives from the Greek νέος néos, new and λίθος líthos, stone, the term was invented by Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. In the Middle East, cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing in the 10th millennium BC, early development occurred in the Levant and from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are attested in southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia by around 8000 BC. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square yards, the Neolithic 1 period began roughly 10,000 years ago in the Levant. A temple area in southeastern Turkey at Göbekli Tepe dated around 9500 BC may be regarded as the beginning of the period. This site was developed by nomadic tribes, evidenced by the lack of permanent housing in the vicinity. At least seven stone circles, covering 25 acres, contain limestone pillars carved with animals, insects, Stone tools were used by perhaps as many as hundreds of people to create the pillars, which might have supported roofs. Other early PPNA sites dating to around 9500–9000 BC have been found in Jericho, Israel, Gilgal in the Jordan Valley, the start of Neolithic 1 overlaps the Tahunian and Heavy Neolithic periods to some degree. The major advance of Neolithic 1 was true farming, in the proto-Neolithic Natufian cultures, wild cereals were harvested, and perhaps early seed selection and re-seeding occurred. The grain was ground into flour, emmer wheat was domesticated, and animals were herded and domesticated
10.
Mediterranean
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
11.
Upper Paleolithic
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The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity, modern humans are believed to have emerged about 195,000 years ago in Africa. Although these humans were modern in anatomy, their lifestyle changed very little from their contemporaries, such as Homo erectus, about 50,000 years ago, there was a marked increase in the diversity of artifacts. In Africa, bone artifacts and the first art appear in the archeological record, between 45,000 and 43,000 years ago, this new tool technology spread with human migration to Europe. The new technology generated an explosion of modern humans which is believed to have contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals. The Upper Paleolithic has the earliest known evidence of organized settlements, in the form of campsites, artistic work blossomed, with cave painting, petroglyphs, carvings and engravings on bone or ivory. The first evidence of fishing is also noted, from artifacts in places such as Blombos cave in South Africa. More complex social groupings emerged, supported by more varied and reliable food sources and this probably contributed to increasing group identification or ethnicity. By 50, 000–40,000 BP, the first humans set foot in Australia, by 45,000 BP, humans lived at 61° north latitude in Europe. By 30,000 BP, Japan was reached, and by 27,000 BP humans were present in Siberia above the Arctic Circle, at the end of the Upper Paleolithic, a group of humans crossed the Bering land bridge and quickly expanded throughout North and South America. Both Homo erectus and Neanderthals used the same crude stone tools, archaeologist Richard G. Klein, who has worked extensively on ancient stone tools, describes the stone tool kit of archaic hominids as impossible to categorize. It was as if the Neanderthals made stone tools, and were not much concerned about their final forms and he argues that almost everywhere, whether Asia, Africa or Europe, before 50,000 years ago all the stone tools are much alike and unsophisticated. These new stone-tool types have been described as being distinctly differentiated from each other, the invaders, commonly referred to as the Cro-Magnons, left many sophisticated stone tools, carved and engraved pieces on bone, ivory and antler, cave paintings and Venus figurines. The Neanderthals continued to use Mousterian stone tool technology and possibly Chatelperronian technology and these tools disappeared from the archeological record at around the same time the Neanderthals themselves disappeared from the fossil record, about 40,000 years ago. Settlements were often located in valley bottoms, possibly associated with hunting of passing herds of animals. Hunting was important, and caribou/wild reindeer may well be the species of single greatest importance in the anthropological literature on hunting. Technological advances included significant developments in flint tool manufacturing, with industries based on fine blades rather than simpler and shorter flakes, burins and racloirs were used to work bone, antler and hides. Advanced darts and harpoons also appear in period, along with the fish hook, the oil lamp, rope
12.
Spear-thrower
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A spear-thrower or atlatl is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing, and includes a bearing surface which allows the user to store energy during the throw. It may consist of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports, the spear-thrower is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup. The dart is thrown by the action of the upper arm, the throwing arm together with the atlatl acts as a lever. The spear-thrower is a low-mass, fast-moving extension of the throwing arm and this extra length allows the thrower to impart force to the dart over a longer distance, thus imparting more energy and ultimately higher speeds. Common modern ball throwers use the same principle, a spear-thrower is a long-range weapon and can readily impart to a projectile speeds of over 150 km/h. In the United States the Nahuatl word atlatl is often used for revived uses of spear-throwers, the ancient Greeks and Romans used a leather thong or loop, known as an ankule or amentum, as a spear-throwing device. Spear-thrower designs may include such as thong loops to fit the fingers, the use of flexible shafts, stone balance weights. Darts resemble large arrows or thin spears and are typically from 1.2 to 2.7 m in length and 9 to 16 mm in diameter, another important improvement to the spear-throwers design was the introduction of a small weight strapped to its midsection. Some atlatlists maintain that stone weights add mass to the shaft of the device, causing resistance to acceleration when swung and resulting in a more forceful, others claim that spear-thrower weights add only stability to a cast, resulting in greater accuracy. Based on previous work done by William S. Webb, William R, the use of the device would reduce the telltale zip of a swung atlatl to a more subtle woof sound that did not travel as far and was less likely to alert prey. The woomera design is different from most other spear-throwers, in that it has a curved, hollow shape. Several Stone Age spear-throwers are decorated with carvings of animals, the British Museum has a mammoth, many pieces of decorated bone may have belonged to Bâtons de commandement. The Aztec atlatl was often decorated with designs and feathers. Wooden darts were known at least since the Middle Paleolithic, while the spear-thrower is capable of casting a dart well over one hundred meters, it is most accurately used at distances of twenty meters or less. The spearthrower is believed to have been in use by Homo sapiens since the Upper Paleolithic, most stratified European finds come from the Magdalenian. In this period, elaborate pieces, often in the form of animals, are common, the earliest secure data concerning atlatls have come from several caves in France dating to the Upper Paleolithic, about 21,000 to 17,000 years ago. The earliest known example is a 17, 500-year-old Solutrean atlatl made of antler, found at Combe Saunière. In Europe, the spear-thrower was supplemented by the bow and arrow in the Epi-Paleolithic and this allowed for more forgiving flint knapping, dart heads designed for a particular spear thrower tend to differ in mass by only a few percent
13.
Bow and arrow
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The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures. Archery is the art, practice, or skill of applying it, a bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles called arrows. A string joins the two ends of the bow and when the string is drawn back, the ends of the bow are flexed, when the string is released, the potential energy of the flexed stick is transformed into the kinetic energy of the arrow. Archery is the art or sport of shooting arrows from bows, today, bows and arrows are used primarily for hunting and for the sport of archery. Someone who makes bows is known as a bowyer, and one who makes arrows is a fletcher —or in the case of the manufacture of arrow heads. The bow and arrow appears around the transition from the Upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic, at the site of Nataruk in Turkana County, Kenya, obsidian bladelets found embedded in a skull and within the thoracic cavity of another skeleton, suggest the use of stone-tipped arrows as weapons. After the end of the last glacial period, use of the bow seems to have spread to every inhabited continent, including the New World, the oldest extant bows in one piece are the elm Holmegaard bows from Denmark which were dated to 9,000 BCE. High-performance wooden bows are made following the Holmegaard design. Microliths discovered on the south coast of Africa suggest that arrows may be at least 71,000 years old, the bow was an important weapon for both hunting and warfare from prehistoric times until the widespread use of gunpowder in the 16th century. Organised warfare with bows ended in the mid 17th century in Europe, the British upper class led a revival of archery from the late 18th century. Sir Ashton Lever, an antiquarian and collector, formed the Toxophilite Society in London in 1781, under the patronage of George, the basic elements of a bow are a pair of curved elastic limbs, traditionally made from wood, joined by a riser. Both ends of the limbs are connected by a known as the bow string. By pulling the string backwards the archer exerts compressive force on the section, or belly, of the limbs as well as placing the outer section, or back. While the string is held, this stores the energy released in putting the arrow to flight. The force required to hold the string stationary at full draw is used to express the power of a bow. Other things being equal, a draw weight means a more powerful bow. The various parts of the bow can be subdivided into further sections, the topmost limb is known as the upper limb, while the bottom limb is the lower limb. At the tip of each limb is a nock, which is used to attach the bowstring to the limbs, the riser is usually divided into the grip, which is held by the archer, as well as the arrow rest and the bow window
14.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
15.
Spear
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A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The most common design for hunting or combat spears since ancient times has incorporated a metal spearhead shaped like a triangle, lozenge, the heads of fishing spears usually feature barbs or serrated edges. The word spear comes from the Old English spere, from the Proto-Germanic speri, from a Proto-Indo-European root *sper- spear, Spears can be divided into two broad categories, those designed for thrusting in melee combat and those designed for throwing. The spear has been used throughout history both as a hunting and fishing tool and as a weapon. Along with the axe, knife and club, it is one of the earliest and most important tools developed by early humans, as a weapon, it may be wielded with either one hand or two. It was used in every conflict up until the modern era, where even then it continues on in the form of the bayonet. Spear manufacture and use is not confined to human beings and it is also practiced by the western chimpanzee. Chimpanzees near Kédougou, Senegal have been observed to create spears by breaking straight limbs off trees, stripping them of their bark and side branches and they then used the weapons to hunt galagos sleeping in hollows. Orangutans also have used spears to fish, presumably after observing humans fishing in a similar manner, neanderthals were constructing stone spear heads from as early as 300,000 BP and by 250,000 years ago, wooden spears were made with fire-hardened points. From 200,000 BP onwards, Middle Paleolithic humans began to make stone blades with flaked edges which were used as spear heads. These stone heads could be fixed to the shaft by gum or resin or by bindings made of animal sinew. During this period, a clear difference remained between spears designed to be thrown and those designed to be used in hand-to-hand combat, by the Magdalenian period, spear-throwers similar to the later atlatl were in use. Spears were one of the most common weapons used in the Stone Age. They may be seen as the ancestor of such weapons as the lance, the pilum, the halberd, the naginata, the glaive, the bill. Spears may be used as both a projectile and melee weapons, Spears used primarily for thrusting may be used with either one or two hands and tend to have heavier and sturdier designs than those intended exclusively for throwing. From the atlatl dart, the arrow for use with bows eventually developed, short, one-handed spears featuring socketed metal heads were used in conjunction with a shield by the earliest Bronze Age cultures. They were wielded in either combat or in large troop formations. This tradition continued from the first Mesopotamian cultures, through the various ancient Egyptian dynasties, during this time the spear was also used by cavalry
16.
Woomera (spear-thrower)
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A woomera is a wooden Australian Aboriginal spear-throwing device. Similar to an atlatl, it is an extension of the arm that enables a spear to travel at a greater speed. The town of Woomera in South Australia, founded in 1947 as the home of the Anglo-Australian Long Range Weapons Establishment, is named after the spear thrower, the woomera is 2 to 3 feet in length. One end is 3 inches wide and possessing a hollow, curved cross-section not unlike an airfoil, the woomera was traditionally decorated with incised or painted designs that indicated belonging to a particular linguistic group that it may be returned to if found abandoned. Records show that the implement began to be used about 5000 years ago and it is still used today in some remote areas of Australia. Like spears and boomerangs, woomeras were traditionally used only by men, some woomeras, especially those used in the central and western Australian deserts, were multi-purpose tools. Often shaped like long narrow bowls, they could be used for carrying water-soaked vegetable matter as well as food items such as little lizards or seeds. Many woomeras had a stone cutting edge attached to the end of the handle with black gum from the triodia plant. This sharp tool had many uses, such as cutting up game or other food and wood and it is supposed that the woomera could be used as a shield for protection against spears and boomerangs. The woomera is held in one hand while the other places the butt of the spear on the woomeras hook. The woomera doubles the length of the arm, greatly increasing the velocity of the spear. Correcting for the animals lateral dodging is accomplished by tilting the wing-shape woomera during the throw for last-second corrections. The extra energy gained from the use has been calculated as four times that from a compound bow. Aboriginal technology A drawing of a woomera, from the book Boy Scouts Beyond the Seas, My World Tour by Sir Robert Baden-Powell,1913
17.
Cultural diffusion
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It is distinct from the diffusion of innovations within a specific culture. Examples of diffusion include the spread of the war chariot and iron smelting in ancient times, and this can include hierarchical, stimulus, and contagious diffusion. Relocation diffusion, an idea or innovation that migrates into new areas, hierarchical diffusion, an idea or innovation that spreads by moving from larger to smaller places, often with little regard to the distance between places, and often influenced by social elites. Contagious diffusion, an idea or innovation that spreads based on contact within a given population. Stimulus diffusion, an idea or innovation that spreads based on its attachment to another concept, inter-cultural diffusion can happen in many ways. Migrating populations will carry their culture with them, ideas can be carried by trans-cultural visitors, such as merchants, explorers, soldiers, diplomats, slaves, and hired artisans. Technology diffusion has occurred by one society luring skilled scientists or workers by payments or other inducement. Trans-cultural marriages between two neighboring or interspersed cultures have also contributed, among literate societies, diffusion can occur through letters, books, and, in modern times, through electronic media. There are three categories of diffusion mechanisms, Direct diffusion occurs when two cultures are very close to other, resulting in intermarriage, trade, and even warfare. Forced diffusion occurs when one culture subjugates another culture and forces its own customs on the conquered people, indirect diffusion happens when traits are passed from one culture through a middleman to another culture, without the first and final cultures being in direct contact. An example could be the presence of Mexican food in Canada, Direct diffusion was common in ancient times, when small groups of humans lived in adjoining settlements. Indirect diffusion is common in todays world because of the mass media and this concept was invoked with regard to the independent development of calculus by Newton and Leibnitz, and the inventions of the airplane and of the electronic computer. Early theories of hyperdiffusionism can be traced to ideas about South America being the origin of mankind, the work of Grafton Elliot Smith fomented a revival of hyperdiffusionism in 1911, he asserted that copper–producing knowledge spread from Egypt to the rest of the world along with megalithic culture. Smith claimed that all major inventions had been made by the ancient Egyptians and were carried to the rest of the world by migrants and his views became known as Egyptocentric-Hyperdiffusionism. William James Perry elaborated on Smiths hypothesis by using ethnographic data, another hyperdiffusionist was Lord Raglan, in his book How Came Civilization he wrote that instead of Egypt all culture and civilization had come from Mesopotamia. Hyperdiffusionism after this did not entirely disappear, but it was abandoned by mainstream academia. Historians have questioned recently whether Europe really owes the development of such inventions as gunpowder, the compass, while the concept of diffusion is well accepted in general, conjectures about the existence or the extent of diffusion in some specific contexts have been hotly disputed. Heyerdahls theory of Polynesian origins has not gained acceptance among anthropologists, major contributors to inter-cultural diffusion research and theory include, Franz Boas Anne Walbank Buckland James Burnett, Lord Monboddo Leo Frobenius Cyrus H. Gordon Fritz Graebner A. C
18.
Biodegradable
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Biodegradation is the disintegration of materials by bacteria, fungi, or other biological means. Although often conflated, biodegradable is distinct in meaning from compostable, while biodegradable simply means to be consumed by microorganisms, compostable makes the specific demand that the object break down under composting conditions. Organic material can be degraded aerobically with oxygen, or anaerobically, biosurfactant, an extracellular surfactant secreted by microorganisms, enhances the biodegradation process. Biodegradable matter is generally organic material serves as a nutrient for microorganisms. Microorganisms are so numerous and diverse that, a range of compounds are biodegraded, including hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Decomposition of biodegradable substances may include both biological and abiotic steps, in practice, almost all chemical compounds and materials are subject to biodegradation, the key is the relative rates of such processes - minutes, days, years, centuries. A number of factors determine the rate of organic compounds. Salient factors include light, water and oxygen, temperature is also important because chemical reactions proceed more quickly at higher temperatures. The degradation rate of organic compounds is limited by their bioavailability. Compounds must be released into solution before organisms can degrade them, Biodegradability can be measured in a number of ways. Respirometry tests can be used for aerobic microbes, first one places a solid waste sample in a container with microorganisms and soil, and then aerate the mixture. Over the course of days, microorganisms digest the sample bit by bit. Biodegradability can also be measured by anaerobic microbes and the amount of methane or alloy that they are able to produce, in formal scientific literature, the process is termed bio-remediation. In advanced societies, laundry detergents are based on linear alkylbenzenesulfonates, branched alkybenzenesulfonates, used in former times, were abandoned because they biodegrade too slowly. Plastics biodegrade at highly variable rates, pVC-based plumbing is specifically selected for handing sewage because PVC biodegrades very slowly. Some packaging materials on the hand are being developed that would degrade readily upon exposure to the environment. A prominent example is poly-3-hydroxybutyrate, the renewably derived polylactic acid, others are the cellulose-based cellulose acetate and celluloid. Under low oxygen conditions biodegradable plastics break down slower and with the production of methane, the breakdown process is accelerated in a dedicated compost heap
19.
Tutankhamen
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Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom or sometimes the New Empire Period. He has, since his discovery, been referred to as King Tut. His original name, Tutankhaten, means Living Image of Aten, in hieroglyphs, the name Tutankhamun was typically written Amen-tut-ankh, because of a scribal custom that placed a divine name at the beginning of a phrase to show appropriate reverence. The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon of Tutankhamuns nearly intact tomb received worldwide press coverage and it sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamuns mask, now in the Egyptian Museum, remains the popular symbol. Exhibits of artifacts from his tomb have toured the world, in February 2010, the results of DNA tests confirmed that he was the son of Akhenaten. His mother was Akhenatens sister and wife, whose name is unknown, the mysterious deaths of a few of those who excavated Tutankhamuns tomb has been popularly attributed to the curse of the pharaohs. Tutankhamun was the son of Akhenaten and one of Akhenatens sisters, as a prince, he was known as Tutankhaten. He ascended to the throne in 1333 BC, at the age of nine or ten and his wet nurse was a woman called Maia, known from her tomb at Saqqara. His teacher was most likely Sennedjem, when he became king, he married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten, who later changed her name to Ankhesenamun. They had two daughters, both stillborn, computed tomography studies released in 2011 revealed that one daughter died at 5–6 months of pregnancy and the other at 9 months of pregnancy. No evidence was found in either mummy of congenital anomalies or an apparent cause of death, given his age, the king probably had very powerful advisers, presumably including General Horemheb and Grand Vizier Ay. Horemheb records that the king appointed him lord of the land as hereditary prince to maintain law and he also noted his ability to calm the young king when his temper flared. In his third year, under the influence of his advisors. He ended the worship of the god Aten and restored the god Amun to supremacy, the ban on the cult of Amun was lifted and traditional privileges were restored to its priesthood. The capital was moved back to Thebes and the city of Akhetaten abandoned and this is when he changed his name to Tutankhamun, Living image of Amun, reinforcing the restoration of Amun. As part of his restoration, the king initiated building projects, in particular at Karnak in Thebes, many monuments were erected, and an inscription on his tomb door declares the king had spent his life in fashioning the images of the gods. The traditional festivals were now celebrated again, including those related to the Apis Bull, Horemakhet and his restoration stela says, The temples of the gods and goddesses. Their shrines were deserted and overgrown and their sanctuaries were as non-existent and their courts were used as roads
20.
Pharaoh
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The word pharaoh ultimately derive from the Egyptian compound pr-ˤ3 great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ˤ3 column, here meaning great or high. It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ˤ3 Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the twelfth dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health, but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person. During the reign of Thutmose III in the New Kingdom, after the rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. During the eighteenth dynasty the title pharaoh was employed as a designation of the ruler. From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ˤ3 on its own was used as regularly as hm. f, the term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler, particularly by the twenty-second dynasty and twenty-third dynasty. For instance, the first dated appearance of the pharaoh being attached to a rulers name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun and this new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-second dynasty kings. Shoshenq I was the successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as pr-ˤ3 continued in traditional Egyptian narratives, by this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Φερων. In the Bible, the title also occurs as פרעה, from that, Septuagint φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Quran likewise spells it فرعون firawn with n, interestingly, the Arabic combines the original pharyngeal ayin sound from Egyptian, along with the -n ending from Greek. English at first spelt it Pharao, but the King James Bible revived Pharaoh with h from the Hebrew, meanwhile in Egypt itself, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ prro and then rro. Scepters and staves were a sign of authority in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-scepter, the earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to pre-dynastic times. A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to the late Naqada period, another scepter associated with the king is the was-scepter. This is a long staff mounted with an animal head, the earliest known depictions of the was-scepter date to the first dynasty
21.
El-Lahun
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El Lahun is a village in Faiyum, Egypt. Associated with the pyramid of Senusret II, it is located near the modern village, also nearby is the pyramid itself, known as the Pyramid of Lahun. The ancient name of the site was rꜣ-ḥn. t, literally, Mouth of the Canal) and this approach was probably intended to ensure the stability of the brick structure. Unusually, despite a Pyramid Temple on the east side, the entrance to the pyramid is on the south, the archaeologist Flinders Petrie nevertheless spent considerable time searching for it on the east side. He discovered the entrance only when workmen clearing the nearby tombs of the nobles discovered a tunnel at the bottom of a 40-foot shaft. Evidently the original workmen on the tomb had used their legitimate activity as a cover for digging this tunnel, once he was in the burial chamber, Petrie was able to work backwards to the entrance. The pyramid stands on an artificial terrace cut from sloping ground, on the north side eight rectangular blocks of stone were left to serve as mastabas, probably for the burial of personages associated with the royal court. In front of each mastaba is a shaft leading down to the burial chamber underneath. Also on the side is the Queens Pyramid or subsidiary pyramid. The most remarkable discovery was that of the village of the workers who constructed the pyramid and then served the funerary cult of the king. The village, conventionally known as Kahun, is about 800 meters from the pyramid, when found, many of the buildings were extant up to roof height, and Petrie confirmed that the true arch was known and used by the workmen in the village. However, all the buildings found were demolished in the process of excavation, when the first strip had been cleared, mapped and drawn, the next strip was excavated and the spoil dumped in the previous strip. As a result, there is little to be seen on the site today. The village was excavated by Petrie in 1888-90 and again in 1914, the excavation was remarkable for the number, range, and quality of objects of everyday life that were found in the houses. Among the curiosities found there were wooden boxes buried beneath the floors of many of the houses, when opened they were found to contain the skeletons of infants, sometimes two or three in a box, and aged only a few months at death. Petrie reburied these human remains in the desert, also found in the town were the Kahun papyri, comprising about 1000 fragments, covering legal and medical matters. Re-excavation of the area in 2009 by Egyptian archaeologists revealed a cache of mummies in brightly painted wooden coffins in the sand-covered desert rock surrounding the pyramid. The site was occupied into the late Thirteenth Dynasty, and then again in the New Kingdom, the town was laid out in a regular plan, with mud-brick town walls on 3 sides
22.
Al Fayyum
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Faiyum is a city in Middle Egypt. Located 100 kilometres southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, originally called Shedet in Ancient Egypt, the Greeks called it Crocodilopolis or Krocodilopolis, the Romans Arsinoë. It is one of Egypts oldest cities due to its strategic location and its name in English is also spelled as Fayum, Faiyum or El Faiyūm. Faiyum was previously officially named Madīnet El Faiyūm, the name Faiyum may also refer to the Faiyum Oasis, although it is commonly used by Egyptians today to refer to the city. Archaeological evidence has found occupations around the Fayum dating back to at least the Epipalaeolithic period, recently the area has been further investigated by a team from the UCLA/RUG/UOA Fayum Project. In the Pharaonic era, the city now called Medinet el Fayum was called Shedet and it was the most significant centre of the cult of Sobek, the crocodile-god. In consequence, the Greeks named it Crocodilopolis, Crocodile City, the city worshipped a tamed sacred crocodile, named Petsuchos, that was adorned with gold and gem pendants. The crocodile lived in a temple pond and was fed by the priests with food provided by visitors. When the Petsuchos died, it was replaced by another, under the Ptolemies, the city was for a while called Ptolemais Euergetis. Ptolemy II Philadelphus rechristened the city Arsinoë and the whole nome after the name of his sister and wife Arsinoë, under the Roman Empire, Arsinoe became part of the province of Arcadia Aegypti. To distinguish it from other cities of the name, it was called Arsinoë in Arcadia. With the arrival of Christianity, Arsinoe became the seat of a bishopric, a suffragan of the Oxyrhynchus, the capital of the province, lequien gives the names of several bishops of Arsinoe, nearly all of them associated with one heresy or another. The Catholic Church, considering Arsinoë in Arcadia to be no longer a residential bishopric, Faiyum has several large bazaars, mosques, baths and a much-frequented weekly market. The canal called Bahr Yussef runs through the city, its banks lined with houses, mounds north of the city mark the site of Arsinoe, known to the ancient Greeks as Crocodilopolis, where in ancient times the sacred crocodile kept in Lake Moeris was worshipped. The center of the city is on the canal, with four waterwheels that were adopted by the governorate of Fayoum as its symbol, their chariots, Faiyum is the source of some famous death masks or mummy portraits painted during the Roman occupation of the area. The Egyptians continued their practice of burying their dead, despite the Roman preference for cremation, while under the control of the Roman Empire, Egyptian death masks were painted on wood in a pigmented wax technique called encaustic—the Faiyum mummy portraits represent this technique. Modern Studies conclude that the Faiyum portraits represent Greek settlers in Egypt, victor J. Katz notes that most modern studies conclude that the Greek & Egyptian communities coexisted with little mutual influence. Anthony Lowsted has written extensively on the scope of Apartheid that separated the 2 communities during the Hellenistic and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
23.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
24.
William Matthew Flinders Petrie
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Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, FRS, FBA, commonly known as Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of Egyptology in the United Kingdom, some consider his most famous discovery to be that of the Merneptah Stele, an opinion with which Petrie himself concurred. Petrie developed the system of dating based on pottery and ceramic findings. William Matthew Flinders Petrie was born in Maryon Road, Charlton, Kent, England, Anne was the daughter of Captain Matthew Flinders, surveyor of the Australian coastline, spoke six languages and was an Egyptologist. His father taught his son how to survey accurately, laying the foundation for his archaeological career, at the age of eight, he was tutored in French, Latin, and Greek, until he had a collapse and was taught at home. He also ventured his first archaeological opinion aged eight, when visiting the Petrie family were describing the unearthing of the Brading Roman Villa in the Isle of Wight. The boy was horrified to hear the rough shovelling out of the contents, and protested that the earth should be pared away, inch by inch, to see all that was in it and how it lay. All that I have done since, he wrote when he was in his seventies, was there to begin with. I was already in archaeology by nature, on 26 November 1896, Petrie married Hilda Urlin in London. They had two children, John and Ann and they originally lived in Hampstead, where an English Heritage blue plaque now stands on the building they lived in,5 Cannon Place. Their son was John Flinders Petrie, the mathematician, who gave his name to the Petrie polygon, when he died in 1942, Petrie donated his head to the Royal College of Surgeons of London while his body was interred in the Protestant Cemetery on Mt. Zion. World War II was then at its height, and the head was delayed in transit, after being stored in a jar in the college basement, its label fell off and no one knew who the head belonged to. It was identified however, and is now stored, but not displayed, the chair of Edwards Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at University College London was set up and funded in 1892 by a bequest of Amelia Edwards following her sudden death in that year. Petries supporter since 1880, Edwards had instructed that he should be its first incumbent and he continued to excavate in Egypt after taking up the professorship, training many of the best archaeologists of the day. In 1913 Petrie sold his collection of Egyptian antiquities to University College, London. One of his students was Howard Carter who went on to discover the tomb of Tutankhamun, in his teenage years, Petrie surveyed British prehistoric monuments in attempts to understand their geometry. On that visit, he was appalled by the rate of destruction of monuments, impressed by his scientific approach, they offered him work as the successor to Édouard Naville. Petrie accepted the position and was given the sum of £250 per month to cover the excavations expenses, in November 1884, Petrie arrived in Egypt to begin his excavations
25.
Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
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The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in London is part of University College London Museums and Collections. The museum contains over 80,000 objects and ranks among some of the leading collections of Egyptian. The museum was established as a resource for the Department of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at University College at the same time as the department was established in 1892. The initial collection was donated by the writer Amelia Edwards, the collection and library were arranged in galleries within the university and a guidebook published in 1915. Initially, the visitors were students and academics, it was not then open to the general public. Petrie retired from University College London in 1933, though his successors continued to add to the collections, excavating in other parts of Egypt, during the Second World War the collection was packed up and moved out of London for safekeeping. In the early 1950s it was moved into a former stable, as of this date, the Museum is at Malet Place, near Gower Street and the University College London science library. Admission is free, and as of February 2017 the Museum is open each afternoon, Tuesday to Friday, as well, the Friends raise funds towards the conservation, publication and display of the Petrie Museums outstanding collection. The Museum is split into three galleries as of date, The main gallery contains many of the museums small artifacts, as well as tablets of writing and mummy portraits. The third and last is accessed via and along a stairwell, some parts of the collection are not lit to protect light-sensitive items, and torches are supplied to see inside the cases. The collection has been digitised and the catalogue can be browsed and consulted online, costume is another strength of the collection. The collection contains works of art from Akhenaten’s city at Amarna, colourful tiles, carvings and frescoes, from other important Egyptian and Nubian settlements. The museum houses the world’s largest collection of Roman period mummy portraits, the collection also includes material from the Coptic and Islamic periods. The museum contains over 80,000 objects and ranks among some of the leading collections of Egyptian. It only ranks behind the collections of the Cairo Museum, The British Museum, margaret S. Drower, Flinders Petrie, A Life in Archaeology, University of Wisconsin Press,1995. William Matthew Flinders Petrie, Seventy Years in Archaeology, H. Holt, Petrie, W. M. Flinders Sir, 1853-1942 Tell el-Amarna, London, Methuen & Co
26.
Bast fibre
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Bast fibre is plant fibre collected from the phloem or bast surrounding the stem of certain dicotyledonous plants. They support the conductive cells of the phloem and provide strength to the stem, Bast fibres are classified as soft fibres, and are flexible. Fibres from monocotyledonous plants, called leaf fibre, are classified as hard fibres and are stiff, since the valuable fibres are located in the phloem, they must often be separated from the xylem material, and sometimes also from the epidermis. The process for this is called retting, and can be performed by micro-organisms either on land or in water, in the phloem, bast fibres occur in bundles that are glued together by pectin and calcium ions. More intense retting separates the fibre bundles into elementary fibres, that can be several centimetres long, often bast fibres have higher tensile strength than other kinds, and are used in high-quality textiles, ropes, yarn, paper, composite materials and burlap. An important property of bast fibres is that they contain a structure, the fibre node, that represents a weak point. Seed hairs, such as cotton, do not have nodes, from prehistoric times through at least the early 20th century, bast shoes were woven from bast strips in the forest areas of Eastern Europe. Where no other source of tanbark was available, bast has also used for tanning leather. International Jute Study Group Bast Fibre cords in Viking ships Bast fibre production with hemp
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Flax
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Flax, Linum usitatissimum, is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is a food and fiber crop cultivated in regions of the world. The textiles made from flax are known in the Western countries as linen, and traditionally used for bed sheets, underclothes, the oil is known as linseed oil. In addition to referring to the plant itself, the word flax may refer to the fibers of the flax plant. The plant species is only as a cultivated plant, and appears to have been domesticated just once from the wild species Linum bienne. Several other species in the genus Linum are similar in appearance to L. usitatissimum, cultivated flax, including some that have similar blue flowers, some of these are perennial plants, unlike L. usitatissimum, which is an annual plant. Cultivated flax plants grow to 1.2 m tall, with slender stems, the leaves are glaucous green, slender lanceolate, 20–40 mm long, and 3 mm broad. The flowers are pale blue, 15–25 mm in diameter. The fruit is a round, dry capsule 5–9 mm in diameter, containing several brown seeds shaped like an apple pip. Flax was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent region, evidence exists of a domesticated oilseed flax with increased seed size by 9,000 years ago from Tell Ramad in Syria. Use of the crop steadily spread, reaching as far as Switzerland, in China and India, domesticated flax was cultivated also by at least 5,000 years ago. Flax was extensively cultivated in ancient Egypt, where the walls had paintings of flowering flax. Egyptian priests only wore linen, as flax was considered a symbol of purity, phoenicians traded Egyptian linen throughout the Mediterranean, and the Romans used it for their sails. Eventually, Flanders became the center of the linen industry in the European Middle Ages. Since then, flax has lost its importance as a commercial crop, Flax is grown for its oil, used as a nutritional supplement, and as an ingredient in many wood-finishing products. Flax is also grown as a plant in gardens. Flax fibers are used to make linen, the Latin species name usitatissimum means most useful. Flax fibers are taken from the stem of the plant, and are two to three times as strong as those of cotton, additionally, flax fibers are naturally smooth and straight
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Braid
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A braid is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing three or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The most common braid is a flat, solid, three-stranded structure, more complex braids can be constructed from an arbitrary number of strands to create a wider range of structures. Braids have been made for thousands of years in different cultures. Traditionally, the used in braids have depended on the indigenous plants. When the Industrial Revolution arrived, mechanized braiding equipment was invented to increase production, the braiding technique was used to make ropes, with both natural and synthetic fibers, and coaxial cables for radios using copper wire. In more recent times it has used to create a covering for fuel pipes in jet aircraft and ships, first using glass fibre, then stainless steel. Pipes for domestic plumbing are often covered with stainless steel braid and it has been disputed whether or not she wears braided hair or some sort of a woven basket on her head. The Venus of Brassempouy is estimated to be about 25,000 years old and shows, ostensibly, another sample of a different origin was traced back to a burial site called Saqqara located on the Nile River, during the first dynasty of Pharaoh Menes. In some regions, a braid was a means of communication, at a glance, one individual could distinguish a wealth of information about another, whether they were married, mourning, or of age for courtship, simply by observing their hairstyle. Braids were a means of social stratification, certain hairstyles were distinctive to particular tribes or nations. Other styles informed others of a status in society. African people such as the Himba people of Namibia have been braiding their hair for centuries, in many African tribes hairstyles are unique and used to identify each tribe. Braid patterns or hairstyles can be an indication of a community, age, marital status, wealth, power, social position. Braiding is traditionally a social art, because of the time it takes to braid hair, people have often taken time to socialize while braiding and having their hair braided. It begins with the elders making simple knots and braids for younger children, older children watch and learn from them, start practicing on younger children, and eventually learn the traditional designs. This carries on a tradition of bonding between elders and the new generation, early braids had many uses, such as costume decoration, animal regalia, sword decoration, bowls and hats, locks, and weapons. Materials that are used in braids can vary depending on local materials, for instance, South Americans used the very fine fibers from the wool of alpaca and llama, while North American people made use of bison fibers. Throughout the world, vegetable fibers such as grass, nettle, in China, Korea, and Japan silk still remains the main material used
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Sennit
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Sennit is a type of cordage made by plaiting strands of dried fibre or grass. It can be used ornamentally in crafts, like a kind of macrame, sennit is an important material in the cultures of Oceania, where it is used in traditional architecture, boat building, fishing and as an ornamentation. Sennit in Tonga is called kafa, sennit is the western term used for magimagi, an exclusive craft product of the Fiji Islands. Only Fijian artists know how to weave the beauty of magimagi into the traditional Fijian look, the term is also used in Hawaii and throughout Polynesia for cordage made by braiding the fibers of coconut husks. It was important in attaching the ʻama via the iako to the hull of canoes, stones to war-club handles, erecting hale, in the Samoan language, sennit is called ʻafa. It was used as cordage in the construction of traditional Samoan architecture, ʻAfa is handmade from dried coconut fibre from the husk of certain varieties of coconuts with long fibres, particularly the niuafa. Sennit is mentioned in Robert Gibbings book Over the Reefs and he refers to its use in Samoa in 1946, where he was able to observe its being made on many occasions. He notes that its crafting was a constant occupation in Samoan villages and he was referring to the sennit that is used to bind the structures or huts in which they lived. Sennit had a variety of uses, including in shark fishing. They showed me the sennit noose they had used - five years old and they said it would last another five years if cared for
30.
Assyria
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Assyria was a major Mesopotamian East Semitic-speaking kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East and the Levant. Centered on the Tigris in Upper Mesopotamia, the Assyrians came to rule powerful empires at several times. Assyria is named after its capital, the ancient city of Aššur. In the 25th and 24th centuries BC, Assyrian kings were pastoral leaders, Assyria can also refer to the geographic region or heartland where Assyria, its empires and the Assyrian people were centered. The indigenous modern Eastern Aramaic-speaking Assyrian Christian ethnic minority in northern Iraq, north east Syria, southeast Turkey, in prehistoric times, the region that was to become known as Assyria was home to a Neanderthal culture such as has been found at the Shanidar Cave. The earliest Neolithic sites in Assyria were the Jarmo culture c.7100 BC and Tell Hassuna, during the 3rd millennium BC, a very intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians and the Akkadians throughout Mesopotamia, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian, and vice versa, is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a scale, to syntactic, morphological. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium BC as a sprachbund and it is highly likely that the city was named in honour of its patron Assyrian god with the same name. The city of Aššur, together with a number of other Assyrian cities, however it is likely that they were initially Sumerian-dominated administrative centres. In the late 26th century BC, Eannatum of Lagash, then the dominant Sumerian ruler in Mesopotamia, similarly, in c. the early 25th century BC, Lugal-Anne-Mundu the king of the Sumerian state of Adab lists Subartu as paying tribute to him. Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is known, in the Assyrian King List, the earliest king recorded was Tudiya. According to Georges Roux he would have lived in the mid 25th century BC, Tudiya was succeeded on the list by Adamu, the first known reference to the Semitic name Adam and then a further thirteen rulers. The earliest kings, such as Tudiya, who are recorded as kings who lived in tents, were independent semi-nomadic pastoralist rulers and these kings at some point became fully urbanised and founded the city state of Ashur in the mid 21st century BC. During the Akkadian Empire, the Assyrians, like all the Mesopotamian Semites, became subject to the dynasty of the city state of Akkad, the Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon the Great claimed to encompass the surrounding four quarters. Assyrian rulers were subject to Sargon and his successors, and the city of Ashur became an administrative center of the Empire. On those tablets, Assyrian traders in Burushanda implored the help of their ruler, Sargon the Great, the name Hatti itself even appears in later accounts of his grandson, Naram-Sin, campaigning in Anatolia. Assyrian and Akkadian traders spread the use of writing in the form of the Mesopotamian cuneiform script to Asia Minor, the Akkadian Empire was destroyed by economic decline and internal civil war, followed by attacks from barbarian Gutian people in 2154 BC. The rulers of Assyria during the period between c.2154 BC and 2112 BC once again fully independent, as the Gutians are only known to have administered southern Mesopotamia
31.
History of Egypt
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The history of Egypt has been long and rich, due to the flow of the Nile river, with its fertile banks and delta. Its rich history also comes from its inhabitants and outside influence. Much of Egypts ancient history was a mystery until the secrets of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered with the discovery, the Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the other Seven Wonders, is gone, the Library of Alexandria was the only one of its kind for centuries. Human settlement in Egypt dates back to at least 40,000 BC with Aterian tool manufacturing, Ancient Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh of the First Dynasty, Narmer. Predominately native Egyptian rule lasted until the conquest by the Achaemenid Empire in the sixth century BC, the Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its final annexation by Rome. The death of Cleopatra ended the independence of Egypt resulting in Egypt becoming one of the provinces of the Roman Empire. Roman rule in Egypt lasted from 30 BC to 641 AD, in 1517, Ottoman sultan Selim I captured Cairo, absorbing Egypt into the Ottoman Empire. Egypt remained entirely Ottoman until 1867, except during French occupation from 1798 to 1801, starting in 1867, Egypt became a nominally autonomous tributary state called the Khedivate of Egypt. However, Khedivate Egypt fell under British control in 1882 following the Anglo-Egyptian War, after the end of World War I and following the Egyptian revolution of 1919, the Kingdom of Egypt was established. While a de facto independent state, the United Kingdom retained control over affairs, defense. British occupation lasted until 1954, with the Anglo-Egyptian agreement of 1954, President Gamal Abdel Nasser introduced many reforms and created the short-lived United Arab Republic. His terms also saw the Six-Day War and the creation of the international Non-Aligned Movement and he led Egypt in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to regain Egypts Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967. This later led to the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, recent Egyptian history has been dominated by events following nearly thirty years of rule by former president Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian revolution of 2011 deposed Mubarak and resulted in the first democratically elected president in Egyptian history, unrest after the 2011 revolution and related disputes led to the 2013 Egyptian coup détat. There is evidence of petroglyphs along the Nile terraces and in desert oases, in the 10th millennium BC, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishermen was replaced by a grain-grinding culture. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 6000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River, where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society. By about 6000 BC, a Neolithic culture rooted in the Nile Valley, during the Neolithic era, several predynastic cultures developed independently in Upper and Lower Egypt
32.
Trajans column
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Trajans Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajans victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate and it is located in Trajans Forum, built near the Quirinal Hill, north of the Roman Forum. Completed in AD113, the column is most famous for its spiral bas relief. Its design has inspired numerous victory columns, both ancient and modern, the structure is about 30 metres in height,35 metres including its large pedestal. The shaft is made from a series of 20 colossal Carrara marble drums, each weighing about 32 tons, the 190-metre frieze winds around the shaft 23 times. Inside the shaft, a staircase of 185 steps provides access to a viewing platform at the top. The capital block of Trajans Column weighs 53.3 tons, on December 4,1587, the top was crowned by Pope Sixtus V with a bronze figure of St. Peter, which remains to this day. The column was originally flanked by two libraries, which may have contained Trajans scroll-written despatches from his Roman-Dacian Wars, filippo Coarelli suggests that such scrolls are the basis both of the columns design and its spiraling, sculpted narrative. The column shows 2,662 figures, and 155 scenes, the continuous helical frieze winds twenty-three times from base to capital, and was in its time an architectural innovation. The design was adopted by later emperors such as Marcus Aurelius, the narrative band expands from about 1 metre at the base of the column to 1.2 metres at the top. Often a variety of different perspectives are used in the same scene, the relief portrays Trajans two victorious military campaigns against the Dacians, the lower half illustrating the first, and the top half illustrating the second. These campaigns were contemporary to the time of the Columns building, throughout, the frieze repeats standardized scenes of imperial address, sacrifice, and the army setting out on campaign. Scenes of battle are much an minority on the column, instead it emphasizes images of orderly soldiers carrying out ceremony. The war against Dacia was one of conquest and expansion, wartime violence in general seems to have been downplayed. The two sections are separated by a personification of Victory writing on a shield flanked on either side by Trophies, great care is taken to distinguish the men and women from both sides of the campaign as well as the ranks within these distinct groups. The scenes are crowded with sailors, soldiers, statesmen and priests and it also exists as a valuable source of information on Roman and barbaric arms and methods of warfare and costume. The relief shows details such as a ballista or catapult, the precise details of the depictions creates a reality effect for the viewer in which designers hope is that these images are taken for objective historical truth. The emperor Trajan is depicted realistically in the Veristic style, the focus on Trajan as the heroic protagonist is central
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Marcus Aurelius
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Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus death in 169, Marcus Aurelius was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors. He was a practitioner of Stoicism, and his untitled writing, during his reign, the Roman Empire defeated a revitalized Parthian Empire in the East, Aurelius general Avidius Cassius sacked the capital Ctesiphon in 164. A revolt in the East led by Avidius Cassius failed to gain momentum and was suppressed immediately, the major sources for the life and rule of Marcus Aurelius are patchy and frequently unreliable. For Marcus life and rule, the biographies of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus and Lucius Verus are largely reliable, a body of correspondence between Marcus tutor Fronto and various Antonine officials survives in a series of patchy manuscripts, covering the period from c.138 to 166. Marcus own Meditations offer a window on his life, but are largely undateable. The main narrative source for the period is Cassius Dio, a Greek senator from Bithynian Nicaea who wrote a history of Rome from its founding to 229 in eighty books. Dio is vital for the history of the period, but his senatorial prejudices. Inscriptions and coin finds supplement the literary sources, Marcus family originated in Ucubi, a small town southeast of Córdoba in Iberian Baetica. Verus elder son—Marcus Aurelius father—Marcus Annius Verus married Domitia Lucilla, Lucilla was the daughter of the patrician P. Calvisius Tullus Ruso and the elder Domitia Lucilla. The elder Domitia Lucilla had inherited a fortune from her maternal grandfather and her paternal grandfather by adoption. Lucilla and Verus had two children, a son, Marcus, born on 26 April 121 AD, and a daughter, Annia Cornificia Faustina, Verus probably died in 124 AD, during his praetorship, when Marcus was only three years old. Though he can hardly have known him, Marcus Aurelius wrote in his Meditations that he had learned modesty and manliness from his memories of his father, Lucilla, following prevailing aristocratic customs, probably did not spend much time with her son. Marcus was in the care of nurses, even so, Marcus credits his mother with teaching him religious piety, simplicity in diet and how to avoid the ways of the rich. In his letters, Marcus makes frequent and affectionate reference to her, he was grateful that, although she was fated to die young, yet she spent her last years with me. After his fathers death, Aurelius was raised by his paternal grandfather Marcus Annius Verus who, technically this was not an adoption, since an adoption would be the legal creation of a new and different patria potestas. Another man, Lucius Catilius Severus, also participated in his upbringing, Severus is described as Marcus maternal great-grandfather, he is probably the stepfather of the elder Lucilla. Marcus was raised in his parents home on the Caelian Hill and it was an upscale region, with few public buildings but many aristocratic villas
34.
Bayeux Tapestry
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According to Sylvette Lemagnen, conservator of the tapestry, The Bayeux tapestry is one of the supreme achievements of the Norman Romanesque. Its survival almost intact over nine centuries is little short of miraculous and its exceptional length, the harmony and freshness of its colours, its exquisite workmanship, and the genius of its guiding spirit combine to make it endlessly fascinating. The tapestry consists of some fifty scenes with Latin tituli, embroidered on linen with coloured woollen yarns and it is likely that it was commissioned by Bishop Odo, Williams half-brother, and made in England—not Bayeux—in the 1070s. In 1729 the hanging was rediscovered by scholars at a time when it was being displayed annually in Bayeux Cathedral, the tapestry is now exhibited at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeux, Normandy, France. The designs on the Bayeux Tapestry are embroidered rather than woven, nevertheless, it has always been called a tapestry until recent years, when the more correct name Bayeux Embroidery has gained ground among art historians. Such tapestries adorned both churches and wealthy houses in England, though at 0.5 by 68.38 metres the Bayeux Tapestry is exceptionally large. Only the figures and decoration are embroidered, on a background left plain, the earliest known written reference to the tapestry is a 1476 inventory of Bayeux Cathedral, but its origins have been the subject of much speculation and controversy. French legend maintained the tapestry was commissioned and created by Queen Matilda, William the Conquerors wife, indeed, in France it is occasionally known as La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde. The actual physical work of stitching was most likely undertaken by female needle workers, Anglo-Saxon needlework of the more detailed type known as Opus Anglicanum was famous across Europe. It was perhaps commissioned for display in the hall of his palace and then bequeathed to the cathedral he built, following the pattern of the documented, carola Hicks has suggested it could possibly have been commissioned by Edith of Wessex. George Beech suggests the tapestry was executed at the Abbey of St. Florent in the Loire Valley, andrew Bridgeford has suggested that the tapestry was actually of English design and encoded with secret messages meant to undermine Norman rule. Nine linen panels, between fourteen and three metres in length, were together after each was embroidered and the joins were disguised with subsequent embroidery. At the first join the borders do not line up properly, the design involved a broad central zone with narrow decorative borders top and bottom. By inspecting the woollen threads behind the linen it is apparent all these aspects were embroidered together at a session, later generations have patched the hanging in numerous places and some of the embroidery has been reworked. The tapestry may well have maintained much of its original appearance—it now compares closely with a drawing made in 1730. The main yarn colours are terracotta or russet, blue-green, dull gold, olive green, later repairs are worked in light yellow, orange, and light greens. Laid yarns are couched in place with yarn of the same or contrasting colour, the tapestrys central zone contains most of the action, which sometimes overflows into the borders either for dramatic effect or because depictions would otherwise be very cramped. Events take place in a series of scenes which are generally separated by highly stylised trees
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Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
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Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
37.
British Museum
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The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is located in the Bloomsbury area of London. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician, the museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. Although today principally a museum of art objects and antiquities. Its foundations lie in the will of the Irish-born British physician, on 7 June 1753, King George II gave his formal assent to the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum. They were joined in 1757 by the Old Royal Library, now the Royal manuscripts, together these four foundation collections included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf. The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public, sloanes collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests. The addition of the Cotton and Harley manuscripts introduced a literary, the body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, as a location for the museum, which it bought from the Montagu family for £20,000. The Trustees rejected Buckingham House, on the now occupied by Buckingham Palace, on the grounds of cost. With the acquisition of Montagu House the first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several gifts, including the Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts. A list of donations to the Museum, dated 31 January 1784, in the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. Gifts and purchases from Henry Salt, British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the Colossal bust of Ramesses II in 1818, many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman Sculpture, in 1805. In 1816 these masterpieces of art, were acquired by The British Museum by Act of Parliament. The collections were supplemented by the Bassae frieze from Phigaleia, Greece in 1815, the Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities from the widow of Claudius James Rich. The neoclassical architect, Sir Robert Smirke, was asked to draw up plans for an extension to the Museum. For the reception of the Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery over it, and put forward plans for todays quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old Montagu House was demolished and work on the Kings Library Gallery began in 1823, the extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. The Museum became a site as Sir Robert Smirkes grand neo-classical building gradually arose
38.
Homer
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Homer is the name ascribed by the ancient Greeks to the semi-legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of Greek literature. The Odyssey focuses on the home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Many accounts of Homers life circulated in classical antiquity, the most widespread being that he was a bard from Ionia. The modern scholarly consensus is that these traditions do not have any historical value, the Homeric question - by whom, when, where and under what circumstances were the Iliad and Odyssey composed - continues to be debated. Broadly speaking, modern scholarly opinion on the authorship question falls into two camps, one group holds that most of the Iliad and the Odyssey is the work of a single poet of genius. The other considers the Homeric poems to be the crystallization of a process of working and re-working by many contributors and it is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century B. C. Most researchers believe that the poems were transmitted orally. The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education, to Plato, the chronological period of Homer depends on the meaning to be assigned to the word Homer. Was Homer a single person, an imaginary person representing a group of poets and this information is often called the world of Homer. The Homeric period would in that cover a number of historical periods, especially the Mycenaean Age. Considered word-for-word, the texts as we know them are the product of the scholars of the last three centuries. Each edition of the Iliad or Odyssey is a different, as the editors rely on different manuscripts and fragments. The term accuracy reveals a belief in an original uniform text. The manuscripts of the work currently available date to no earlier than the 10th century. These are at the end of a missing thousand-year chain of copies made as each generation of manuscripts disintegrated or were lost or destroyed and these numerous manuscripts are so similar that a single original can be postulated. The time gap in the chain is bridged by the scholia, or notes, on the existing manuscripts, librarian of the Library of Alexandria, he had noticed a wide divergence in the works attributed to Homer, and was trying to restore a more authentic copy. He had collected several manuscripts, which he named, the Sinopic, the one he selected for correction was the koine, which Murray translates as the Vulgate. Aristarchus was known for his selection of material
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Ten Thousand (Greek)
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The Ten Thousand was a force of mercenary units, mainly Greek, employed by Cyrus the Younger to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Their march to the Battle of Cunaxa and back to Greece was recorded by Xenophon in his work, the ten thousand marched inland and fought the Battle of Cunaxa and then marched back to Greece during the years 401 BC to 399 BC. Xenophon stated in The Anabasis that the Greek heavy troops scattered their opposition twice during the battle, only after the battle did they hear that Cyrus had been killed, making their victory irrelevant and the expedition a failure. The ten thousand were in the middle of a large empire with no food, no employer. They offered to make their Persian ally Ariaeus king, but he refused on the grounds that he was not of royal blood and they offered their services to Tissaphernes, a leading satrap of Artaxerxes, but he refused them, and they refused to surrender to him. Tissaphernes was left with a problem, an army of heavy troops. He supplied them with food and, after a wait, led them northwards for home, meanwhile detaching Ariaeus. The Greek senior officers accepted the invitation of Tissaphernes to a feast, where they were made prisoner, taken up to the king, the Greeks then elected new officers and set out to march northwards to the Black Sea through Corduene and Armenia. Xenophon records the moment when the ten thousand finally saw the sea, signifying their escape. Until shortly after the Battle of Cunaxa, the Spartan general Clearchus was recognized as the commander of the army, when the Ten Thousand started their journey in 401 BC, Xenophon tells us that they numbered around 10,400. At the time Xenophon left them two years later, their number had dwindled to just under 6,000, the novel The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch, winner of the 1978 Booker Prize was named for this event. David Drakes 1988 novel The Forlorn Hope features a plot revolving around a group of mercenaries caught behind enemy lines, Drakes own writings describe Xenophons Anabasis as the model for the first segment of the book. The 2001 novel The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford is an account of this groups exploits. Shane Brennans In the Tracks of the Ten Thousand, A Journey on Foot through Turkey, Syria, valerio Massimo Manfredis 2007 novel Larmata perduta tells the story of the army told through Abira, a Syrian girl, who decides to follow a Greek warrior named Xeno. Paul Kearneys 2008 novel The Ten Thousand is set in a world based on Xenophons record of the historical Ten Thousand. John Ringos 2008 novel The Last Centurion tells the story of a U. S. Stryker company left in Iran after a plague which must repeat the journey of the Ten Thousand. The Ten Thousand and Anabasis are frequently mentioned, the 1965 novel The Warriors is inspired by Anabasis. The novel was adapted into the 1979 film The Warriors, in the film, the would-be-emperor figure is named Cyrus, the Coney Island gangs fallen leader is named Cleon, and the films final scenes take place at the edge of the sea
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Artaxerxes II of Persia
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Artaxerxes II Mnemon /ˌɑːrtəˈzɜːrksiːz/ was king of Persia from 404 BC until his death in 358 BC. He was a son of Darius II and Parysatis, Darius II died in 404 BC, just before the final victory of the Egyptian general, Amyrtaeus, over the Persians in Egypt. His successor was his eldest son Arsames who was crowned as Artaxerxes II in Pasargadae and he later received the title of Mnemon from the Greeks who found his memory to be exceptional. Even before his coronation, Artaxerxes was facing threats to his rule from his younger brother, four years earlier, Cyrus was appointed by his father as the supreme governor of the provinces of Asia Minor. There, he managed to pacify local rebellions and become a ruler among both the Iranians and Greeks. Towards the end of 405 BC, Cyrus became aware of his father’s illness, Artaxerxes defended his position against his brother Cyrus the Younger who, with the aid of a large army of Greek mercenaries, attempted to usurp the throne. Though Cyrus mixed army fought to a victory at the Battle of Cunaxa in Babylon, Cyrus himself was killed in the exchange by Mithridates. Artaxerxes became involved in a war with Persias erstwhile allies, the Spartans, in order to redirect the Spartans attention to Greek affairs, Artaxerxes subsidized their enemies, in particular the Athenians, Thebans and Corinthians. These subsidies helped to engage the Spartans in what would become known as the Corinthian War, in 386 BC, Artaxerxes II betrayed his allies and came to an arrangement with Sparta, and in the Treaty of Antalcidas he forced his erstwhile allies to come to terms. This treaty restored control of the Greek cities of Ionia and Aeolis on the Anatolian coast to the Persians, in 385 BC he campaigned against the Cadusians. Although successful against the Greeks, Artaxerxes had more trouble with the Egyptians, an attempt to reconquer Egypt in 373 BC was completely unsuccessful, but in his waning years the Persians did manage to defeat a joint Egyptian–Spartan effort to conquer Phoenicia. He quashed the Revolt of the Satraps in 372–362 BC and he is reported to have had a number of wives. His main wife was Stateira, until she was poisoned by Artaxerxes mother Parysatis in about 400 BC, another chief wife was a Greek woman of Phocaea named Aspasia. Artaxerxes II is said to have more than 115 sons from 350 wives, much of Artaxerxes wealth was spent on building projects. He restored the Palace of Darius I at Susa, and also the fortifications, including a strong redoubt at the south-east corner of the enclosure and gave Ecbatana a new apadana and sculptures. Plutarch in his Lives records alternative names Oarses and Arsicas for Artaxerxes II Mnemon given by Deinon and these derive from the Persian name Khshayarsha as do Ahasuerus and the hypocoristicon Arshu for Artaxerxes II found on a contemporary inscription. The 13th century Syriac historian Bar-Hebraeus in his Chronography, also identifies Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes II citing the sixth century AD historian John of Ephesus, while authenticity of this pedigree is uncertain, it testifies to this kings long renown. Artaxerxes I History of Persia The Anabasis Ten Thousand Artaxerxes by Plutarch H. Hunger & R. J. van der Spek, military operations in Babylonia in, Arta 2006.002 Inscriptions of Artaxerxes II in transcribed Persian and in English translation
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Rhodians
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Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of land area and also the island groups historical capital. Administratively the island forms a municipality within the Rhodes regional unit. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Rhodes, the city of Rhodes had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. It is located northeast of Crete, southeast of Athens and just off the Anatolian coast of Turkey, Rhodes nickname is The island of the Knights, named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who once conquered the land. Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, the Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, the island has been known as Ρόδος in Greek throughout its history. In addition, the island has been called Rodi in Italian, Rodos in Turkish, and Rodi or Rodes in Ladino. The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead,79.7 km long and 38 km wide, with an area of approximately 1,400 square kilometres. The city of Rhodes is located at the tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient. The main air gateway is located 14 km to the southwest of the city in Paradisi, the road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts. There are mineral-rich spring water used to give medicinal baths and the spa resorts offer various health treatments, Rhodes is situated 363 km east-south-east from the Greek mainland, and 18 km from the southern shore of Turkey. The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests of pine, while the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land where citrus fruit, wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown. The Rhodian population of deer was found to be genetically distinct in 2005. In Petaloudes Valley, large numbers of tiger moths gather during the summer months, mount Attavyros, at 1,216 metres, is the islands highest point of elevation. Earthquakes include the 226 BC earthquake that destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes, one on 3 May 1481 which destroyed much of the city of Rhodes, and one on 26 June 1926. On 15 July 2008, Rhodes was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake causing minor damage to a few old buildings, Rhodes has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. The island was inhabited in the Neolithic period, although remains of this culture. In the 16th century BC, the Minoans came to Rhodes, later Greek mythology recalled a Rhodian race called the Telchines and associated the island of Rhodes with Danaus, it was sometimes nicknamed Telchinis
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Achaemenid Empire
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The Achaemenid Empire, also called the Persian Empire, was an empire based in Western Asia, founded by Cyrus the Great. The empires successes inspired similar systems in later empires and it is noted in Western history as the antagonist of the Greek city-states during the Greco-Persian Wars and for the emancipation of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was built in a Hellenistic style in the empire as well. By the 7th century BC, the Persians had settled in the portion of the Iranian Plateau in the region of Persis. From this region, Cyrus the Great advanced to defeat the Medes, Lydia, Alexander, an avid admirer of Cyrus the Great, conquered the empire in its entirety by 330 BC. Upon his death, most of the former territory came under the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire. The Persian population of the central plateau reclaimed power by the second century BC under the Parthian Empire, the historical mark of the Achaemenid Empire went far beyond its territorial and military influences and included cultural, social, technological and religious influences as well. Many Athenians adopted Achaemenid customs in their lives in a reciprocal cultural exchange. The impact of Cyruss edict is mentioned in Judeo-Christian texts, the empire also set the tone for the politics, heritage and history of modern Iran. Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details Due to the duration of their reigns, Smerdis, Xerxes II. The Persian nation contains a number of tribes as listed here, the Pasargadae, Maraphii, and Maspii, upon which all the other tribes are dependent. Of these, the Pasargadae are the most distinguished, they contain the clan of the Achaemenids from which spring the Perseid kings. Other tribes are the Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii, all of which are attached to the soil, the Achaemenid Empire was created by nomadic Persians. The Achaemenid Empire was not the first Iranian empire, as by 6th century BC another group of ancient Iranian peoples had established the short lived Median Empire. The Iranian peoples had arrived in the region of what is today Iran c.1000 BC and had for a number of centuries fallen under the domination of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, based in northern Mesopotamia. However, the Medes and Persians, Cimmerians, Persians and Chaldeans played a role in the overthrow of the Assyrian empire. The term Achaemenid means of the family of the Achaemenis/Achaemenes, despite the derivation of the name, Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh-century ruler of the Anshan in southwestern Iran, and a vassal of Assyria. At some point in 550 BC, Cyrus rose in rebellion against the Medes, eventually conquering the Medes and creating the first Persian empire
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Thucydides
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Thucydides was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC and his text is still studied at both universities and military colleges worldwide. The Melian dialogue remains a work of international relations theory while Pericles Funeral Oration is widely studied in political theory, history. More generally, Thucydides showed an interest in developing an understanding of nature to explain behaviour in such crises as plague, massacres, as in that of the Melians. In spite of his stature as a historian, modern historians know relatively little about Thucydidess life, the most reliable information comes from his own History of the Peloponnesian War, which expounds his nationality, paternity and native locality. Thucydides informs us that he fought in the war, contracted the plague and was exiled by the democracy and he may have also been involved in quelling the Samian Revolt. Thucydides identifies himself as an Athenian, telling us that his fathers name was Olorus and he survived the Plague of Athens that killed Pericles and many other Athenians. He also records that he owned gold mines at Scapte Hyle, because of his influence in the Thracian region, Thucydides wrote, he was sent as a strategos to Thasos in 424 BC. During the winter of 424–423 BC, the Spartan general Brasidas attacked Amphipolis, eucles, the Athenian commander at Amphipolis, sent to Thucydides for help. Thus, when Thucydides arrived, Amphipolis was already under Spartan control, Amphipolis was of considerable strategic importance, and news of its fall caused great consternation in Athens. It was blamed on Thucydides, although he claimed that it was not his fault, using his status as an exile from Athens to travel freely among the Peloponnesian allies, he was able to view the war from the perspective of both sides. During his exile from Athens, Thucydides wrote his most famous work History of the Peloponnesian War, because he was in exile during this time, he was free to speak his mind. This is all that Thucydides wrote about his own life, but a few facts are available from reliable contemporary sources. Herodotus wrote that the name Olorus, Thucydidess fathers name, was connected with Thrace, Thucydides was probably connected through family to the Athenian statesman and general Miltiades, and his son Cimon, leaders of the old aristocracy supplanted by the Radical Democrats. Cimons maternal grandfathers name was also Olorus, making the connection exceedingly likely, another Thucydides lived before the historian and was also linked with Thrace, making a family connection between them very likely as well. Finally, Herodotus confirms the connection of Thucydidess family with the mines at Scapté Hýlē, in essence, he was a well-connected gentleman of considerable resources who, by then retired from the political and military spheres, decided to fund his own historical project. The remaining evidence for Thucydidess life comes from rather less reliable later ancient sources, pausanias goes on to say that Thucydides was murdered on his way back to Athens. Many doubt this account, seeing evidence to suggest he lived as late as 397 BC, Plutarch claims that his remains were returned to Athens and placed in Cimons family vault
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Acarnanians
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Today it forms the western part of the regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. The capital and principal city in ancient times was Stratos, the north side of Acarnania of the Corinthian Gulf was considered part of the region of Epirus. Acarnanias foundation in Greek mythology was traditionally ascribed to Acarnan, son of Alcmaeon, in the 7th century BC, Greek influence in the region became prominent when Corinth settled Anactorium, Sollium and Leucas, and Kefalonia settled Astacus. Because it is located strategically on the route to Italy. In the 5th century BC, the Corinthians were forced out of their Acarnanian settlements by Athens, the Acarnanian League came into existence as a loose federation of the Acarnanian cities. In the 4th century BC, c.390 BC, the cities of Acarnania surrendered to the Spartans under King Agesilaus, the Acarnanians later sided with the Boeotians in their fight against Sparta, and with Athens against Philip II of Macedon at Chaeronea. Acarnania thereafter came under Macedonian rule, in 314 BC, at the behest of the Macedonian king Cassander, the settlements of Acarnania lying near the Aetolian border were conglomerated into fewer, larger settlements. Still, border conflicts with the Aetolians were frequent, and led to Acarnanias territory being partitioned between Aetolia and Epirus, c.250 BC. After the fall of the king of Epirus, the Acarnanian territory that had given to Epirus regained its independence. Acarnania allied itself with Philip V of Macedon against Rome in 200 BC, although it lost Leucas because of this, in the 1st century BC, Acarnania suffered greatly at the hands of pirates, and in Romes civil wars. Afterwards, the towns and settlements of Acarnania fell under the rule of Nicopolis, when the Byzantine Empire broke up, Acarnania passed to the Despotate of Epirus and in 1348 it was conquered by Serbia. Then in 1480 it fell to the Ottoman Empire, since 1832 it has been part of Greece. Acarnania is composed of three regions, 1) a rocky coastline, 2) a rugged strip of mountain range that follows the coastline. Carnus, seer of Apollo who established the cult of Apollo Carneus among the Dorians, megistias, seer at the battle of Thermopylae. List of cities in Acarnania List of traditional Greek place names Hornblower, Simon
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Livy
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Livy and Augustuss wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood. Livy was born as Titus Livius in Patavium in northern Italy, there is a debate about the year of Titus Livius birth,64 BC or more likely 59 BC. At the time of his birth, his city of Patavium was the second wealthiest on the Italian peninsula. Patavium was a part of the province of Cisalpine Gaul at the time, in his works, Livy often expressed his deep affection and pride for Patavium, and the city was well known for its conservative values in morality and politics. Livy’s teen years were during the 40s BC, a time that coincided with the wars that were occurring throughout the Roman world. The governor of Cisalpine Gaul at the time, a man called Asinius Pollio, had tried to bring Patavium into the camp of Marcus Antonius, the wealthier citizens of Patavium refused to contribute money and arms to Asinius Pollio, and went into hiding. Therefore, Livy and the residents of Patavium did not end up supporting Marcus Antonius in his campaign for control over Rome. Later on, Asinius Pollio made a jibe at Livys patavinity and his jibe at Livy and his patavinity, however, may have been said because the city of Patavium had rejected Asinius Pollio, and he still harboured harsh feelings toward the city as a whole. Titus Livius probably went to Rome in the 30s BC, and it is likely that he spent an amount of time in the city after this. During his time in Rome, he was never a senator nor held any other governmental position and his elementary mistakes in military matters show that he was never a soldier. However, he was educated in philosophy and rhetoric and it seems that Livy had the financial resources and means to live an independent life. He devoted a part of his life to his writings. Livy was known to give recitations to small audiences, but he was not heard of to engage in declamation and he was familiar with the emperor Augustus, formerly Octavian, and the imperial family. Octavian was one of the three men fighting for the control of Rome during the Civil Wars in the 40s BC, Octavian gained power after defeating Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra, and was later given the honorary name of Augustus. Considering that Augustus came to be known as the greatest Roman emperor in the eyes of the Romans and it is said that Livy was the one who encouraged the future emperor Claudius, who was born in 10 BC, to explore the writing of history during his childhood. Livy himself was married and had at least one daughter and one son, Livy’s most famous work was his history of Rome. In it he explains the history of the city of Rome. Because he was writing under the emperor Augustus, Livy’s history emphasizes the great triumphs of Rome and he wrote his history with embellished accounts of Roman heroism in order to promote the new type of government implemented by Augustus when he became emperor
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Peloponnesus
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The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is separated from the part of the country by the Gulf of Corinth. During the late Middle Ages and the Ottoman era, the peninsula was known as the Morea, the peninsula is divided among three administrative regions, most belongs to the Peloponnese region, with smaller parts belonging to the West Greece and Attica regions. In 2016, Lonely Planet voted the Peloponnese the top spot of their Best in Europe list, the Peloponnese is a peninsula that covers an area of some 21,549.6 square kilometres and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece. It has two connections with the rest of Greece, a natural one at the Isthmus of Corinth. The peninsula has an interior and deeply indented coasts. The Peloponnese possesses four south-pointing peninsulas, the Messenian, the Mani, the Cape Malea, mount Taygetus in the south is the highest mountain in the Peloponnese, at 2,407 metres. Οther important mountains include Cyllene in the northeast, Aroania in the north, Erymanthos and Panachaikon in the northwest, Mainalon in the center, the entire peninsula is earthquake prone and has been the site of many earthquakes in the past. The longest river is the Alfeios in the west, followed by the Evrotas in the south, extensive lowlands are found only in the west, with the exception of the Evrotas valley in the south and in the Argolid in the northeast. The Peloponnese is home to spectacular beaches, which are a major tourist draw. Two groups of islands lie off the Peloponnesian coast, the Argo-Saronic Islands to the east, the island of Kythera, off the Epidaurus Limera peninsula to the south of the Peloponnese, is considered to be part of the Ionian Islands. The island of Elafonissos used to be part of the peninsula but was separated following the quake of 365 AD. Since antiquity, and continuing to the present day, the Peloponnese has been divided into seven regions, Achaia, Corinthia, Argolid, Arcadia, Laconia, Messinia. Each of these regions is headed by a city, the largest city is Patras in Achaia, followed by Kalamata in Messinia. The peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times and its modern name derives from ancient Greek mythology, specifically the legend of the hero Pelops, who was said to have conquered the entire region. The name Peloponnesos means Island of Pelops, the Mycenaean civilization, mainland Greeces first major civilization, dominated the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age from its stronghold at Mycenae in the north-east of the peninsula. The Mycenean civilization collapsed suddenly at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, archeological research has found that many of its cities and palaces show signs of destruction. The subsequent period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, is marked by an absence of written records
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Balearic Islands
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The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The four largest islands are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera, there are many minor islands and islets close to the larger islands, including Cabrera, Dragonera and SEspalmador. The islands have a Mediterranean climate, and the four islands are all popular tourist destinations. Ibiza in particular is known as a party destination, attracting many of the worlds most popular DJs to its nightclubs. The islands culture and cuisine are similar to that of the rest of Spain but have their own distinctive features, the archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain, with Palma de Mallorca as the capital. The 2007 Statute of Autonomy declares the Balearic Islands as one nationality of Spain, the co-official languages in the Balearic Islands are Catalan and Spanish. Though now a part of Spain, throughout history the Balearic Islands have been under the rule of a number of different kingdoms, the official name of the Balearic Islands in Catalan is Illes Balears, while in Spanish they are known as the Islas Baleares. The term Balearic derives from Greek, of the various theories on the origins of the two ancient Greek and Latin names for the islands—Gymnasiae and Baleares—classical sources provide two. According to the Lycophrons Alexandra verses, the islands were called Γυμνησίαι/Gymnesiae because its inhabitants were often nude, the Greek and Roman writers generally derive the name of the people from their skill as slingers, although Strabo regards the name as of Phoenician origin. He observed it was the Phoenician equivalent for lightly armoured soldiers the Greeks would have called γυμνῆτας/gymnetas, the root bal does point to a Phoenician origin, perhaps the islands were sacred to the god Baal and the resemblance to the Greek root ΒΑΛ is accidental. Indeed, it was usual Greek practice to assimilate local names into their own language, but the common Greek name of the islands is not Βαλεαρεῖς/Baleareis, but Γυμνησίαι/Gymnesiai. The former was the used by the natives, as well as by the Carthaginians and Romans. The Balearic Islands are on a platform called the Balearic Promontory. They are cut by a network of northwest to southeast faults, the main islands of the autonomous community are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera, all popular tourist destinations. Amongst the minor islands is Cabrera, the location of the Cabrera Archipelago Maritime-Terrestrial National Park, the islands can be further grouped, with Majorca, Minorca, and Cabrera as the Gymnesian Islands, and Ibiza and Formentera as the Pityusic Islands, also referred to as the Pityuses. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the Balearic Islands unsurprisingly have typical mediterranean climates, the below-listed climatic data of the capital Palma is typical for the archipelago, with minor differences to other stations in Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca. Little is recorded on the earliest inhabitants of the islands, though many legends exist, the story, preserved by Lycophron, that certain shipwrecked Greek Boeotians were cast nude on the islands, was evidently invented to account for the name Gymnesiae. There is also a tradition that the islands were colonised by Rhodes after the Trojan War, the islands had a very mixed population, of whose habits several strange stories are told
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Strabo
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Strabo was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus, Strabos life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush, as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and the time he spent in Rome. Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes, was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus. He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, in 29 BC, on his way to Corinth, he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until reaching Philae and it is not known precisely when Strabos Geography was written, though comments within the work itself place the finished version within the reign of Emperor Tiberius. Some place its first drafts around 7 BC, others around 17 or 18 AD, the latest passage to which a date can be assigned is his reference to the death in AD23 of Juba II, king of Maurousia, who is said to have died just recently. He probably worked on the Geography for many years and revised it steadily, on the presumption that recently means within a year, Strabo stopped writing that year or the next, when he died. The first of Strabos major works, Historical Sketches, written while he was in Rome, is completely lost. Strabo studied under several prominent teachers of various specialties throughout his life at different stops along his Mediterranean travels. His first chapter of education took place in Nysa under the master of rhetoric Aristodemus, Strabo was an admirer of Homers poetry, perhaps a consequence of his time spent in Nysa with Aristodemus. At around the age of 21, Strabo moved to Rome, where he studied philosophy with the Peripatetic Xenarchus, despite Xenarchuss Aristotelian leanings, Strabo later gives evidence to have formed his own Stoic inclinations. In Rome, he learned grammar under the rich and famous scholar Tyrannion of Amisus. Although Tyrannion was also a Peripatetic, he was more relevantly a respected authority on geography, the final noteworthy mentor to Strabo was Athenodorus Cananites, a philosopher who had spent his life since 44 BC in Rome forging relationships with the Roman elite. Athenodorus endowed to Strabo three important items, his philosophy, his knowledge, and his contacts, moreover, from his own first-hand experience, Athenodorus provided Strabo with information about regions of the empire which he would not otherwise have known. Strabo is most notable for his work Geographica, which presented a history of people. Although the Geographica was rarely utilized in its antiquity, a multitude of copies survived throughout the Byzantine Empire. It first appeared in Western Europe in Rome as a Latin translation issued around 1469, the first Greek edition was published in 1516 in Venice
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Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
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Balearic islands
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The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The four largest islands are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera, there are many minor islands and islets close to the larger islands, including Cabrera, Dragonera and SEspalmador. The islands have a Mediterranean climate, and the four islands are all popular tourist destinations. Ibiza in particular is known as a party destination, attracting many of the worlds most popular DJs to its nightclubs. The islands culture and cuisine are similar to that of the rest of Spain but have their own distinctive features, the archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain, with Palma de Mallorca as the capital. The 2007 Statute of Autonomy declares the Balearic Islands as one nationality of Spain, the co-official languages in the Balearic Islands are Catalan and Spanish. Though now a part of Spain, throughout history the Balearic Islands have been under the rule of a number of different kingdoms, the official name of the Balearic Islands in Catalan is Illes Balears, while in Spanish they are known as the Islas Baleares. The term Balearic derives from Greek, of the various theories on the origins of the two ancient Greek and Latin names for the islands—Gymnasiae and Baleares—classical sources provide two. According to the Lycophrons Alexandra verses, the islands were called Γυμνησίαι/Gymnesiae because its inhabitants were often nude, the Greek and Roman writers generally derive the name of the people from their skill as slingers, although Strabo regards the name as of Phoenician origin. He observed it was the Phoenician equivalent for lightly armoured soldiers the Greeks would have called γυμνῆτας/gymnetas, the root bal does point to a Phoenician origin, perhaps the islands were sacred to the god Baal and the resemblance to the Greek root ΒΑΛ is accidental. Indeed, it was usual Greek practice to assimilate local names into their own language, but the common Greek name of the islands is not Βαλεαρεῖς/Baleareis, but Γυμνησίαι/Gymnesiai. The former was the used by the natives, as well as by the Carthaginians and Romans. The Balearic Islands are on a platform called the Balearic Promontory. They are cut by a network of northwest to southeast faults, the main islands of the autonomous community are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera, all popular tourist destinations. Amongst the minor islands is Cabrera, the location of the Cabrera Archipelago Maritime-Terrestrial National Park, the islands can be further grouped, with Majorca, Minorca, and Cabrera as the Gymnesian Islands, and Ibiza and Formentera as the Pityusic Islands, also referred to as the Pityuses. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the Balearic Islands unsurprisingly have typical mediterranean climates, the below-listed climatic data of the capital Palma is typical for the archipelago, with minor differences to other stations in Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca. Little is recorded on the earliest inhabitants of the islands, though many legends exist, the story, preserved by Lycophron, that certain shipwrecked Greek Boeotians were cast nude on the islands, was evidently invented to account for the name Gymnesiae. There is also a tradition that the islands were colonised by Rhodes after the Trojan War, the islands had a very mixed population, of whose habits several strange stories are told
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